/ eVent fabric lifespan.

I don't want to spark the age-old Gore vs. eVent debate, and I am aware of the current best practice for cleaning and proofing eVent. However, despite my best efforts at maintaining my Rab eVent jacket, its ability to keep water on the outside has nosedived.

'It's not rain, its sweat!' as you may be thinking. I'm sorry, a ten minute walk to the shops in the rain wearing a recently washed and proofed mountaineering jacket should not result in wet shoulders, neck and arms. The last few times I have been out on the hill, I have been wringing water out of my baselayers, whilst my friends in own-brand fabrics have been largely dry besides the usual creep up the sleeves etc.

My jacket is a 2008 model, and I'm just wondering if, after five years of moderate use, the membrane could simply be worn out? When I bought the jacket it seemed like eVent was a bit of a newcomer; anyone else finding that their eVent kit just isn't performing so well after a few years? I'm considering looking at new jackets now, or should I give it one last shot with a double-detergent, double-soap, triple-rinse, quadruple-proof and steam iron blow out? ;-)

I'm having similar thoughts. I have a similar aged Montane eVent jacket and despite being washed and looked after, and not even being very heavily used, its waterproofing is getting less than impressive. I'm going to give a wee bit longer, but I think it's on the way out.

In reply to Taurig:
Personally had any issues and not known people to have too many problems either.
I'd speak to Rab, their customer service is amazing so am sure they will give you some sound advice/help, especially if you tell them you're thinking of taking your money elsewhere.

Tony: It's good (in a way) to hear I'm not the only one. It sounds like your experience is pretty similar to mine.

Phil: I have had good dealings with Rab in the past, in fact they fixed some delaminated cuff tabs on the same jacket free of charge. However, if there was a problem with the membrane, I'm sure it's out of warranty and the only solution would be a new jacket, which I feel is unlikely given it's age. Not entirely sure I find the slightly better breathability of eVent to be worth the rigorous washing schedule either, if I'm honest.

In reply to Taurig:
I've found event wears out quicker than goretex. My event jacket was leaking and when you held it to the light you could see why! The lining also de-laminates faster, I returned the first rab jacket for de-laminating but the second lasted a fair bit longer. I think 5 years is about as long as I'd expect to get out of a waterproof if heavily used.

Yeah I've seen the same thing when holding it up to the light, it's like sections of the fabric have degraded or something. I wouldn't say I'm a particularly heavy user, but maybe it's my fault for using an 'alpine' jacket for general hillwalking and climbing? That said, the face fabric is still in pretty good shape, it's not been scraped up granite chimneys or anything.

In reply to Taurig:
Yeah the lining does tend to come away but thats not too important. Its the light you can see through the jacket that bothers me! I noticed it on the back of my rab jacket (not an alpine basically one down from latok) on the standard jacket materiel between the high wear shoulder areas. The arms also started leaking and actually on the high wear areas, I suspect for a similar reason. I think the membrane is at fault as the outer material looked pretty OK.

Mrs Ridge has a Rab eVent jacket that dates from at least 2005. It's had moderate use, and seems to be working just fine. I think a lot will be due to the use and also how resilient the outer fabric is. If eVent is similar to goretex, (I've lost track of the fabrics these days, and assume it's all 99% marketing hype), in that it's an extremely thin membrane, then a lot will depend on the weight of the outer fabric, the level of use, how abrasive your inner layer is, how you stow it in the rucsac etc. That said, what sounds like total destruction of the membrane after 5 years isn't too impressive.

My event cycling jacket became transparent over the shoulders and very leaky in under 2 years of constant but light use (I never carried a rucsac while wearing it). It faded considerably too so I think UV damage may be the culprit.

Is that good performance? I'm not sure it is but it might be all you can get out of these lightweight materials at present.

Old jacket was about 500g I think, Latok Alpine. As far as a comparison with goretex goes, I've not had one for years now so can only say what I've heard second hand. What I will say is that I'd be replacing this eVent with a fairly heavy duty winter shell, so I imagine it will last longer. Thats a fair few posters in this thread that are having eVent durability issues anyway.

In reply to Taurig: I know at least six people who have owned eVent jackets, from various manufacturers, and for the jackets to leak after three years or less of use. This isn't day-to-day wear, just regular weekend wear in the hills. The jackets have not all been lightweight things: they've included things like a Montane Superfly XT.

I think that eVent is more breathable than Gore (marginally) but is nowhere near as durable as, say, ProShell. My last jacket was eVent, my current one is not. My leaking jacket was actually see-through in places - you could hold it to a strong light and you could see microtears in the membrane: not a good sign. I hope Gore know what they're doing with their latest generation of fabrics, as they are removing the breathability-limiting PU, but that's also what increases their durability, and is one of the crucial differences between it and eVent...

I'd agree that the life of eVent, well certainly Rab eVent jackets is very short in my experince. I've an original Latok, which is a superb jacket but hasn't been anywhere near waterproof from about a year after purchase. Dad bought another Rab jacket and he has complained also after a year of wearing it to coffee shops and beach walks..............
I've tended to always wear mine in the cold/winter and so that lack of waterproofness hasn't been a huge issue...... or at least bearable

> Is all eVent fabric made by the same company? Or does one license the technology/branding and make it in house?
>
> If it's all made by the same company then it doesn't much matter what brand your jacket is.

Event is a GE company and Goretex is made by WL Gore & Associates. Not same same.

In reply to Taurig: I've had a Rab eVent jacket for about 3 years, still doing fine after getting 100+ days hill use a year, plus some general knocking around (mostly walking but plenty of scrambling & some Alpine & winter). The several Goretex jackets I've had have given me around 3 years similar use before giving up, usually on the shoulders. My Paramo, on the other hand, is 12 years old and still performing fine (Paramo replaced the zip after 8 years) - I scrambled up a waterfall in it a few weeks ago, in the fall for 30m, and still stayed dry. It also breathes on muggy days when neither Goretex or eVent do, and even on less humid days breathes much better than either. On breathability, incidentally, eVent performs 2 to 3 times better than Goretex in the US military's fabric tests. And another thumbs up for Rab's aftersales - they cleaned, restuffed and restitched my old Ladakh sleeping bag for a nominal fee, getting me nearly another decade's use out of it.

My eVent has given up on being waterproof, I think I got it Xmas 2009. I've had my suspicions for a while that it's no longer that watertight, but hadnt had any torrential downpours to test it in. The weather obliged on NYE when I was moving a sheep fence and I ended up sodden. I don't think it's had all that heavy use, so got to say I'm a bit disappointed!

So far thats 15 negative anecdotes compared to 3 positive. Not looking great really. I have given the jacket one last wash in detergent and a double rinse. When time permits I will get in the shower with a grey t-shirt under the jacket and I'll make my mind up whether it'll get relegated to jogging/biking use based on that.

In reply to Taurig:
I've had a Montane Venture eVent jacket and this year after 7 years' abuse (long distance expeditions, DofE, climbing and scrambling) I conceded defeat and replaced it, being not-overly waterproof. However, for at least 6 of those years, it kept me perfectly dry, even when others wearing Gore-Tex Proshells weren't, it stood up to the abuse and hasn't always been too well looked after, so I'd say I'd got my money's worth and hence invested in another Montane eVent jacket.

In reply to Taurig: I have a circa 2005/6 Rab Latok that has given up the ghost in a similar manner. Also had some Lab Latok Alpine trousers that delaminated on the arse after about 6 years of semi regular (weekend) use.

Gone for a Montane Superfly XT this time, last chance for Event from me though.

In reply to Taurig:Somebody who works for a local (Sheffield) wildlife charity isn't too impressed with the durability of her eVent jacket after a year and a half of regular use during the wetter weather.

I had this exact problem too happened about 3 years after buying the jacket it was re-proofed regularly and well used. Think it just reached the end of its life. Invested in a Gortex pro shell never looked back.

Well, I've just stood in the shower wearing my freshly washed jacket for about 5 mins and when I got out I had large damp patches on the shoulders, arms and chest of the grey cotton top I was wearing underneath.* That's conclusive enough for me, I think it's reached the end of it's life. New jacket time.